Clues by Sam Mar 02, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
Easy·Solved
A1
👩💻
Anna
coder
B1
👩⚕️
Claire
doctor
C1
👩🍳
Debra
cook
D1
👨⚖️
Ethan
judge
A2
👩✈️
Flora
pilot
B2
👨✈️
Hal
pilot
C2
👨🍳
Isaac
cook
D2
👨⚖️
Jose
judge
A3
👮♂️
Kumar
cop
B3
👮♀️
Max
cop
C3
👨🎨
Nick
painter
D3
👩💻
Olivia
coder
A4
👨🍳
Paul
cook
B4
👨⚕️
Ronald
doctor
C4
👩🎨
Sue
painter
D4
👨⚕️
Tyler
doctor
A5
👩⚖️
Uma
judge
B5
👨✈️
Vince
pilot
C5
👮♀️
Wanda
cop
D5
👩🎨
Xia
painter
Final Board State
This puzzle is fully solved.
All characters have been identified as innocent or criminal based on today's clues.
Final Result
Innocent 14Criminal 6Unknown 0
See how each clue leads to the final result
Answer (spoilers)
A quick reference of the final identities. For explanations, see the reasoning above.
▶ Answer list (spoilers)
Innocent · 14
[ A1 ] [ B1 ] [ D1 ] [ A2 ] [ B2 ] [ A3 ] [ B3 ] [ C3 ] [ D3 ] [ C4 ] [ A5 ] [ B5 ] [ C5 ] [ D5 ]
Criminal · 6
[ C1 ] [ C2 ] [ D2 ] [ A4 ] [ B4 ] [ D4 ]
Clues
Raw text reference from the original puzzle
Original clue texts as provided in today's puzzle. No deductions or interpretations are applied here.
▶ Raw clues (original text)
A1 · Anna
"That's really quiet, Paul! Impressive!"
B1 · Claire
"There is one innocent doctor in column B"
C1 · Debra
"At least some of us tried. Unlike Jose and Ronald."
D1 · Ethan
"C'mon Isaac! Not even one little clue?"
A2 · Flora
"Kumar is one of 3 innocents above Uma"
B2 · Hal
"It's not fun if you don't give any clues!"
C2 · Isaac
"My mouth is sealed"
D2 · Jose
"Debra has exactly 3 innocent neighbors"
A3 · Kumar
"There's an odd number of criminals in column A"
B3 · Max
"There are more innocents in column B than column C"
C3 · Nick
"I'm hearing a lot of talk from supposedly quiet people"
D3 · Olivia
"There are no innocents to the right of Hal"
A4 · Paul
"I'm as quiet as a mouse in slippers"
B4 · Ronald
"Both criminals above Wanda are connected"
C4 · Sue
"Each column has at least 3 innocents"
D4 · Tyler
"Mum's the word. You'll get nothing out of me."
A5 · Uma
"There are more innocent cops than innocent judges"
B5 · Vince
"Only one person in a corner has exactly 3 innocent neighbors"
C5 · Wanda
"Row 2 is the only row with exactly 2 innocents"
D5 · Xia
"There's an equal number of innocents in rows 3 and 5"
Answer Explanation
Full reasoning transcript (reference)
This is the full reasoning transcript for today's puzzle. For an interactive walkthrough, use Replay above.
▶ View full transcript (16 steps)
C2 · Isaac → CRIMINAL, D2 · Jose → CRIMINAL
Because: Hal is at B2, so the people to the right of Hal in the same row are Isaac at C2 and Jose at D2. Olivia’s clue says there are no innocents to the right of Hal, which means nobody in those positions can be innocent. That forces both Isaac and Jose to be criminals. Therefore, we can determine that C2 Isaac is CRIMINAL and D2 Jose is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There are no innocents to the right of Hal" — Olivia (D3)
B1 · Claire → INNOCENT, D1 · Ethan → INNOCENT, B2 · Hal → INNOCENT
Because: Debra is at C1, so her neighbors are B1 (Claire), B2 (Hal), C2 (Isaac), D1 (Ethan), and D2 (Jose). Jose’s clue says Debra has exactly 3 innocent neighbors. Since Isaac at C2 and Jose at D2 are already known criminals, they cannot be among those 3 innocents, so the remaining three neighbors must all be innocent to reach exactly 3. Therefore, we can determine that B1 Claire is INNOCENT, D1 Ethan is INNOCENT, and B2 Hal is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Debra has exactly 3 innocent neighbors" — Jose (D2)
B4 · Ronald → CRIMINAL
Because: In column B, the only doctors are Claire at B1 and Ronald at B4. Claire’s clue says there is exactly one innocent doctor in column B. Since Claire herself is already an innocent doctor, Ronald cannot also be an innocent doctor in the same column. Therefore, we can determine that B4 Ronald is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There is one innocent doctor in column B" — Claire (B1)
C4 · Sue → INNOCENT
Because: Wanda is at C5, so “above Wanda” means the four people in column C from C1 to C4. Ronald’s clue says there are exactly two criminals among those four, and we already know Isaac at C2 is one of them, so there is exactly one more criminal among Debra (C1), Nick (C3), and Sue (C4). The clue also says those two criminals are connected, but Isaac at C2 can only connect upward or downward through column C, and there is no way for Isaac at C2 to connect to Sue at C4 unless Nick at C3 were also a criminal, which would create three criminals above Wanda. Therefore, we can determine that C4 Sue is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Both criminals above Wanda are connected" — Ronald (B4)
C5 · Wanda → INNOCENT
Because: Looking only at column C, Wanda is at C5, and the people above her are Debra (C1), Isaac (C2), Nick (C3), and Sue (C4). Ronald’s clue says there are exactly two criminals above Wanda; since Isaac is already a known criminal and Sue is a known innocent, that forces exactly one of Debra or Nick to be the second criminal, which also means the other one is definitely innocent. Sue’s clue says each column has at least 3 innocents, so in column C we already have Sue and whichever of Debra or Nick is forced innocent, giving only 2 guaranteed innocents unless Wanda is also innocent. Therefore, we can determine that C5 Wanda is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Both criminals above Wanda are connected" — Ronald (B4)
"Each column has at least 3 innocents" — Sue (C4)
A2 · Flora → INNOCENT
Because: In row 2, Hal at B2 is already known to be innocent, while Isaac at C2 and Jose at D2 are already known to be criminals, leaving only Flora at A2 undecided. Wanda’s clue says row 2 has exactly 2 innocents, so row 2 must contain one more innocent besides Hal. Since C2 and D2 cannot be that second innocent, the only possible person who can make row 2 reach exactly 2 innocents is Flora at A2. Therefore, we can determine that A2 (Flora) is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Row 2 is the only row with exactly 2 innocents" — Wanda (C5)
A3 · Kumar → INNOCENT
Because: Flora’s clue says that “Kumar is one of 3 innocents above Uma,” which directly includes Kumar in the set of innocents. Therefore, we can determine that A3 Kumar is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Kumar is one of 3 innocents above Uma" — Flora (A2)
A5 · Uma → INNOCENT
Because: Look at column A, where Uma is at A5 and the people above her are A1 Anna, A2 Flora, A3 Kumar, and A4 Paul. Flora’s clue says that there are exactly 3 innocents above Uma, and Kumar is one of those innocents; since Flora (A2) and Kumar (A3) are already known innocents, that means the only way to have exactly 3 innocents among A1–A4 is for exactly one of Anna (A1) or Paul (A4) to be a criminal. So, among the four spots above Uma, there is exactly 1 criminal in total. Kumar’s clue says column A has an odd number of criminals overall; if Uma were a criminal, column A would have 2 criminals (the one among A1/A4 plus Uma), which is even, so Uma must be innocent to keep the total at 1 criminal, which is odd. Therefore, we can determine that A5 Uma is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Kumar is one of 3 innocents above Uma" — Flora (A2)
"There's an odd number of criminals in column A" — Kumar (A3)
B3 · Max → INNOCENT
Because: The only cops on the board are Kumar at A3, Max at B3, and Wanda at C5. We already know Kumar and Wanda are innocent, so there are currently exactly two innocent cops unless Max is also innocent. The innocent judges we already have are Ethan at D1 and Uma at A5, so there are exactly two innocent judges. Uma’s clue says there are more innocent cops than innocent judges, so the number of innocent cops must be greater than two, which forces Max to be an innocent cop. Therefore, we can determine that B3 Max is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There are more innocent cops than innocent judges" — Uma (A5)
B5 · Vince → INNOCENT
Because: Look at Wanda at C5: “above Wanda” means C1, C2, C3, and C4. Ronald says there are exactly two criminals among those four people, and we already know Isaac at C2 is a criminal while Sue at C4 is an innocent, so exactly one of Debra at C1 and Nick at C3 must be a criminal and the other must be an innocent. That fixes column C to have exactly three innocents total (Sue, Wanda, and exactly one of Debra or Nick). Max says column B has more innocents than column C, and column B already has three known innocents (Claire, Hal, and Max), so the only way for column B to have more than three innocents is for Vince at B5 to be an innocent. Therefore, we can determine that B5 Vince is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Both criminals above Wanda are connected" — Ronald (B4)
"There are more innocents in column B than column C" — Max (B3)
D4 · Tyler → CRIMINAL
Because: The corner at A1 has exactly three neighbors, and all three of them (B1, A2, and B2) are already known to be innocent, so A1 is a corner with exactly 3 innocent neighbors. Vince’s clue says that only one corner has exactly 3 innocent neighbors, so the corner at D5 cannot also have exactly 3 innocent neighbors. D5 already has two innocent neighbors (C4 and C5), so Tyler at D4 cannot be innocent, or D5 would reach 3 innocent neighbors. Therefore, we can determine that D4 Tyler is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only one person in a corner has exactly 3 innocent neighbors" — Vince (B5)
D5 · Xia → INNOCENT
Because: Look at column D: Ethan at D1 is innocent, Jose at D2 is criminal, Olivia at D3 is innocent, and Tyler at D4 is criminal, leaving only Xia at D5 unknown. Sue’s clue says each column has at least 3 innocents, but column D currently has only two innocents (Ethan and Olivia). To reach at least three innocents in column D, Xia must be an innocent. Therefore, we can determine that D5 Xia is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Each column has at least 3 innocents" — Sue (C4)
A4 · Paul → CRIMINAL
Because: In row 2, Flora and Hal are innocents while Isaac and Jose are criminals, so row 2 has exactly 2 innocents. Wanda’s clue says row 2 is the only row that has exactly 2 innocents, so no other row is allowed to have exactly 2 innocents. In row 4, Ronald and Tyler are criminals and Sue is innocent, so the only way row 4 would end up with exactly 2 innocents is if Paul were innocent. Since that is not allowed, Paul cannot be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that A4 Paul is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Row 2 is the only row with exactly 2 innocents" — Wanda (C5)
A1 · Anna → INNOCENT
Because: Above Uma at A5 are the four people in column A: Anna at A1, Flora at A2, Kumar at A3, and Paul at A4. Flora’s clue says that among these people there are exactly three innocents, and Kumar is one of those innocents. We already know Flora and Kumar are innocent, and Paul is criminal, so the only way to have three innocents above Uma is for Anna to be innocent as well. Therefore, we can determine that A1 Anna is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Kumar is one of 3 innocents above Uma" — Flora (A2)
C3 · Nick → INNOCENT
Because: Row 5 has Uma, Vince, Wanda, and Xia, and all four of them are already known to be innocent, so row 5 contains 4 innocents. Xia’s clue says rows 3 and 5 have an equal number of innocents, so row 3 must also contain 4 innocents. In row 3, Kumar, Max, and Olivia are already innocent, so the only way for row 3 to reach 4 innocents is for Nick at C3 to be innocent as well. Therefore, we can determine that C3 Nick is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There's an equal number of innocents in rows 3 and 5" — Xia (D5)
C1 · Debra → CRIMINAL
Because: The clue talks about “the criminals above Wanda,” and Wanda is at C5, so “above Wanda” means the people in column C at C1, C2, C3, and C4. It says “both criminals above Wanda,” which means there are exactly two criminals among those four people. We already know C2 (Isaac) is a criminal, and C3 (Nick) and C4 (Sue) are innocent, so the only place the second criminal can be is C1 (Debra). The clue’s “connected” part also fits, because C1 and C2 are directly adjacent, so they are connected. Therefore, we can determine that C1 Debra is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Both criminals above Wanda are connected" — Ronald (B4)